Reviews, tutorials, and snarky remarks.

subscription review

Long time no chat. I’m back today with a relatively exciting new unbagging. I was on Instagram and I saw this neat little beauty subscription floating around from Medusa’s Makeup. Some brands (like elf) have brand specific beauty subscriptions, but I haven’t personally seen many. What really caught my eye was that this is a vegan and cruelty free brand! So, this was pretty new and exciting to me. I decided to give it a try and I subscribed last week.

This beauty subscription is monthly, and it’s $15.95 per month, shipping including in the US but there is a $4 charge for international subscribers. Each bag is promised to have 4-5 full sized products from Medusa’s Makeup, amounting to close to $40 (per their website).

I subscribed last Friday, and I received my August bag on Thursday, August 18. So, the turnaround time from subscribing to having your bag in your mail box is pretty quick, in my opinion.

Moving on to what was in my bag this month, I received 2 full sized lip products and 2 full sized eye products. My two favorite types of makeup products to play around with! I was already very impressed and excited from that alone. Another reason why I’m excited is because I haven’t tried too many things from this brand in particular. I’ve been subscribed to Ipsy and others for so long, I feel like I’m starting to get duplicates and things that I will never use and just get tossed aside. For me, full sized products are easier to see, and thus, easier to try and use.

Okay, let’s get into what came in the bag:

1. Lipstick in Baroque $12– I really love the packaging of these lipsticks! Even the box is adorable. This shade is a purple-y pink shade with a little bit of a sheen to it. I do like shades like this, so I’m excited to try this one out and the formula. I kinda miss my classic bullet type lipsticks after all the liquid lipstick hype.

2. Lipgloss in Lover Boy $9– I also really love the packaging of this gloss. I actually already have a gloss by Medusa’s Makeup from a past Lip Monthly bag, and I do remember liking the formula and I didn’t find it to be too sticky. This is a very bright pink, and we all know how I feel about pink. Not too sure how much use I will personally get out of this gloss, but it is a really nice product and shade.

3. Eye Dust in Brown Sugar $7– I love loose shadows and eye dusts! These are some of my favorite products to receive and play around with. This shade is a really deep and rich shade of brown, which will be perfect for Fall when warm and burgundy smokey eyes come back to grace the makeup scene.

4. Eye Glitter in Ozone $7– This is such a pretty shade of blue. Blue is a shade that normally scares me, but I’ve been trying to use it more, especially after seeing the many blue and glittery smokey eyes Risa Dexter does on Instagram. I love glitter, and I hope to get more from this brand in the future.

Overall value: $35

Definitely not a bad mix of products for a beauty subscription. The great thing about this subscription is that you can cancel at any time, there are absolutely no strings attached. So, if you see a month’s bag that you want and you only want that bag, you can subscribe and get it, and cancel and do it as you wish. I honestly think that’s awesome, and maybe that’s a perk to an actual brand running their own subscription. They don’t exactly rely solely on the amount of subscriptions there are, so people can pick and choose as they please.

I’m very happy with this subscription so far, and I will remain subscribed. So, if you want to see more reviews on this and my other subscriptions, make sure you follow me or sign up for emails. You can also follow me on other social media sites.

As always, thanks for reading, and I hope you’re all having wonderful days.

I know this is July and I’m reviewing a June bag, but it arrived in my mailbox close to the end of the month, and then birthdays and holidays happened. Better late than never, right?

I’ve been subscribed to Lip Monthly for a little over a year now. I think I signed up close to when they first started sending bags out. Ipsy is my only other beauty subscription besides this one.

If you’re unfamiliar with Lip Monthly, they’re a lip product focused subscription that costs $12.95 per month. They will even ship internationally, and I believe it’s at an affordable rate! However, I do have a coupon code that will make your first bag close to $6. My code is Kayla55.

Yes, it’s an affiliate code. However, I was subscribed to Lip Monthly way before I was offered a code with them. I stand by my opinions and will link more posts at the end.

Most months I’m sent bags with 3 lip products and one “makeup mix up” product. However, this month I was sent 2 non lip oriented products! Let’s go over what was in the bag:

Jelly Pong Pong Lip Butter– This retails at $18.95. Jelly Pong Pong is such a weirdly named cosmetic brand, but I have enjoyed quite a few items I’ve gotten from this brand from both Lip Monthly and Ipsy. This lip butter has the most adorable packaging! I love hot air balloons! This is also very reminiscent of the Tarte lip butters. I think if you enjoy more hydrating lip formulas, this one would be up your alley! I love the texture and think it’s nice everyday shade and formula for me.

Be a Bombshell Lip/Cheek Stick– This retails at $16. I’ve actually gotten one of these sticks in a past Ipsy bag and loved it! I enjoy cream products on my cheeks in the Summer, they tend to look better throughout the day in humid weather compared to using all powder products. The shade I received is a gorgeous rose gold shade! I’m excited to use this on my cheeks. I don’t know about my lips unless I use a brush, but I think this would make a pretty blush on fair skin!

Chrislie Lip Crayon- This retails at $13. I love this shade! Because it’s a lip crayon it’s a bit on the sheerer side, but it’s still deep enough in color where even I will wear it. The formula feels very hydrating as well.

Peony Cosmetics Highlighter– This was technically the makeup mix up product, and I love it! I hoard highlighters, and this is a gorgeous pinky shade that I can’t wait to pair with other highlighters in my collection. This retails at $22.

Bag total: $69.95

Overall thoughts: I love this bag overall way more than I did last month. Last month had a couple of goodies, but was overall not as spectacular as June’s bag. I will definitely be trying out all of these products!

Wanna win a May Lip Monthly bag? My giveaway ends soon on my youtube channel. Click here to watch the video and see how to enter! It ends July 9.

If you’re unfamiliar with Lip Monthly, they’re a beauty subscription that arrives monthly at $12 per month. Their bags have been very high value the past few months, and most items included are lip products. So, this is the ideal subscription for someone that wants all the lippies…like me.

I’ve discovered a few brands thanks to Lip Monthly!

This month, there were 4 full sized products. Three lip products and a “makeup mix up” which was actually a hair product this month.

Starlooks Lip Liner $6- This lip liner is a darker pink shade, which is really lovely! It’s a retractable liner, and when I swatched it, it felt smooth and was pigmented. I’m impressed considering I have despised a few Starlooks products sent to me in the past.

Coastal Scents Lipstick $5.95 (shade 15)- I have never tried a Coastal Scents lipstick before! This shade is a lovely deeper red though, and we all know I love red lipstick. The packaging is pretty cute as well.

City Colour Be Matte Lipstick “Latte” $4.99- I’ve reviewed the City Color lipsticks before if you want to read it click here. In a nutshell, I love this formula. Very comparable to Melt Cosmetics, and Latte is a really lovely nude shade! I think I might have to pair it with a darker liner so it won’t wash me out, but it’s a nice cool toned nude.

Oscar Blandi Hair Masque $25+– This was a full sized deep hair conditioner! Mine was a bit busted at the bottom, but it’s no big deal. I was actually in need of some deep conditioner, so it’s as if Lip Monthly read my mind this month.

Total Value of the bag- 41.94+

Overall thoughts- I love that there were two lipsticks in this month’s bag. Sometimes I’ll get lip balms and chapstick, and I don’t personally use those often. I like being able to try out lipsticks and lip liners for less than going to individual sites. I do love Lip Monthly as a whole, and I have personally never had an issue with them. I think that they have grown a lot in terms of products over the past year, though I can tell on social media that their customer service might need a bit more developing.

You all know I try to keep it as honest as possible, and I’m just being honest. Do your research and ask questions, especially if you’re thinking about signing up for anything that could be long term.

However, if you’re wanting to subscribe, I do have a referral link: https://lipmonthly.com//referral/VOTA7OjQCCz1

You can use the code “LipLover” to get your first bag for $5 as well!

As always, thank you for stopping by and reading this post! I hope you’re all having lovely days!

Another month, another Ipsy bag. Okay, I know that’s not a thing at all, but just go with it. 2015 is coming to a close and I have no idea where this hell this year went, but I’m trying to cheer myself up with makeup. Alright, I do that in a lot of situations.

Anyway, before this turns into some weird Makeup Addicts Anonymous post, let’s get into why I’m really sitting here today. I received my Ipsy glam bag in the mail at last! Usually I get my Ipsy bag a week before now, but I think with all the holiday stuff going on everything has been slowed down a wee bit.

First off, the bag is very festive. It’s just a shiny red bag, but I actually dig it. I think red is such a classic shade, and the material is the kind that will make this bag toddler proof so I can put it in my purse.

So, what’s in my last Ipsy bag of 2015? Continue reading if you want to find out…

First off, if you’re unfamiliar with Ipsy, they’re a beauty subscription that arrives every month and costs $10. Typically, there’s a mixture of high end and indie brand makeup, some full sized and some deluxe sample sized. My biggest tip is to review your products every month. It does make a difference in your bags. I’ve been getting more high end samples the past few months, and I think it’s because I consistently review all products. I’ve personally been subscribed for a little over 2 years now.

Clark’s Botanicals deep moisture mask- This is a pretty decent sized sample for a mask. I know I have mentioned my skin type before, but my skin gets dryer than a snake’s in Winter. I can’t wait to try this mask out!

Peter Lama’s Hand Cream- Not gonna lie, Peter Lama sounds like a former celebrity name that I should be seeing in weird late night infomercials. This hand cream smells nice, but I already have so many hand creams to use up. However, I will probably end up using this one. Have you ever felt your hands in the winter after washing dishes for 30 mins straight? It’s awful, and I feel uncomfortable thinking about it.

Tarte Cosmetics Smooth Operator Powder- I was really happy to see this in my bag! I love Tarte cosmetics, but I don’t always have the money to splurge on their face products. I’ve been wanting to try this baking thing all the kids have been raving about, so I may get to try it now!

Pacifica Power of Love Natural Lipstick- This is a full sized product that everyone received this month, and I got the shade Nudie Red, which is a lovely brownish red color. I haven’t tried many natural lipsticks, but I love Pacifica! The packaging is really freakin’ cute too. I love the hearts all over the tube.

Elizabeth Mott Thank Me Later Eye Primer- I have so many eye primers, but it is something I use everyday. I’ve never been disappointed with any Elizabeth Mott product I’ve received, so I will try this one out as well. Maybe this one can replace my Too Faced one once I use it up. The Too faced primer is raved about, but it dries my eyelids out terribly.

Colourpop Shadow in Stereo- I had some points to redeem, and was able to snag a Colourpop shadow before everyone else got one! I almost always miss out on cool rewards, so I was happy to get this one since I already love Colourpop so much. I also got a Luxie shadow single, but I put that in my z palette and forgot to include it in the photo. Whoops. Stereo is a really shimmery dark burgundy though, which is a shade I wear very often.

I typically miss out on the sample and beauty boxes Target releases and every time I am a sad panda. So, when I was browsing and saw that they had released their fall beauty box and they weren’t sold out I immediately ordered it. I was beyond excited when this pretty box arrived in my mailbox today and I couldn’t wait to open it up and see what was inside and show you all!
Let me begin by saying this box was $7 shipped to me. I have a Target debit card though, so I don’t know if shipping costs would apply to anyone without a Target debit card. I personally judge beauty boxes/subscriptions by what’s inside, if I like the products or at least most of them, and if the overall value exceeds what I paid for the box. If I’m paying $7 for a sample box and the products inside are worth less or just a little more than what I paid for the box itself, I feel kind of ripped off.

Inside the box:

First thing I noticed about this box was the beautiful coupon it came with. I love coupons. The cool thing about Target coupons is that you can stack their store coupons with a manufacturers coupon and use cartwheel (mobile app) on top of it creating an amazing deal. I’ve scored free and really cheap makeup many times stacking coupons and cartwheel offers.
The next things that caught my eye were the full sizedNyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in white and The Loreal Colour Riche Lipstick in “Blushing Harmony.” I use the jumbo eye pencil almost everyday as an eyeshadow base, so I was pretty excited to get another one of them, because having extras of things I use on an almost daily basis is never a bad thing, in my opinion. The Colour Riche lipstick is also beautiful. “Blushing Harmony” is a very deep rosy nude glossy type of lipstick. It’s not a very sticky formula though. It’s also not matte or a long wearing liquid lipstick. It can be worn alone or on top of lipstick. The value of the eye pencil is $4-5 and the gloss $8-9 so those two products alone made me feel like I got my money’s worth with the coupon.

Next thing I noticed was the set of nifty BB cream cushions. Laneige is a Korean brand and these BB creams are exclusive to Target and have a high SPF. The estimated value of this is between $14-15 and there is are light, medium, and dark cushions as well as the SPF cushion. I’m extremely excited about this particular sample. I have been trying to find a BB cream that just “wows” me for the longest time now, and getting a sample that has several different skin tones in it is amazing. Many beauty and sample boxes tend to only include one shade, and we all know people come in very many different colors and we are not all one shade. The light shade will obviously be the one I try. I will probably gift the others to friends or family.

Fekkai Salon Blow Out Dry Shampoo (1.7 oz) This is not a full sized product, but the value of it is still about $8, and dry shampoos always make me happy. I feel like they probably make anyone with hair and a life happy. I can’t and don’t wash my hair everyday. Even before I had kids, it just makes me hair brittle and dry if I wash it constantly. I can’t wait to try this one out.

Loreal Paris Elnett Hairspray (2.2 oz) This is valued at around $2 for the sample size. I know there are still so many bloggers and hairstylists that use and swear by this hairspray. I have even heard my mom talking about it when she talks about the Aqua Net glory days of big hair. I have never gotten a chance to try it out for myself though because I am partial to my Vidal Sassoon hairspray or my Garnier anti humidity hairspray. However, if I like this little guy I may switch it up.

Overall, from what I have researched the total value of this box is around $38, which is over 5 times what I paid at $7! I feel this was definitely worth it, personally. I haven’t received any box/bag from a subscription service that has had that valuable of a box compared to what you initially pay in so long. It gave me a bit of hope in some weird sense. Haha. This box is a one time purchase, but I will totally be on the lookout for the next one they release. I hope it’s soon! If you have received this box as well, please feel free to comment with your own thoughts and overall opinions.